Rise of Ryan Conner

chapter 2

Passing the coffee shop, he ignored the coffee maker's wave. "Have a great day, sir?" The old beggar, who he gave money to every day, smiled as he waved but he didn't glance at him. The beggar was shocked that he didn't stop to drop any money for him.

"A great day? More like a bad day," Ryan murmured as he walked past lost in his thoughts.

"I'm home," Ryan called out as he pushed open the door of his home to meet his wife Chloe sitting on the couch in front of the television" and laughing at a comedy TV show.

She suddenly stood up and walked towards the door seductively with a lewd smile on her face that turned to a frown when she realized it was Ryan.

"Ryan? Why...why…are you home?" Chloe asked, her voice laced with a tone of panic in her voice.

Ryan didn't answer he just looked at her closely and realized she was wearing a sexy pajamas that looked pretty expensive but he had never seen her wear this before. "Why are you wearing this here? When did you even buy this he asked?"

"Oh this? I bought them yesterday and I wanted to suprise you with it. But you have already seen it." Chloe looked at the pajamas.

"Also I used the little $100k you kept with me. I needed to get the best." She added as she walked back to the couch.

"You used all the money I saved to get this?" Ryan's heart aches that the "surprise" for him, cost an astronomical $100,000—a sum that could have extended his life—left him reeling.

"Why must you use the money I saved to this Chloe?" Ryan asked with sadness in his voice. He didn't want her to realize he had a terminal disease so he kept the information from her.

"It is a luxurious brand Ryan! Don't you see that?" Chloe yelled as she fired him a cold glare.

"I had to look like my friends too, why must I be the only one to look different when we have the money at home?" She questioned him with anger I her voice and Ryan stood there shocked and disappointed with the feeling of death looming over his head.

Chloe, his wife, had sparkling hazel eyes framed by long, dark lashes with a pointed nose, a cute smile, and infectious laughter but when she was angry she could bring down anything.

"Why can't I get something nice for myself? And why aren't you at work, Ryan?" she snapped, with a hint of irritation. Ryan, still expressionless, shook his head. "I got fired," he confessed with a heavy sigh.

"Fired? Ryan, how can you be so careless?" Her frustration burst forth as she spoke.

Ryan attempted to explain the circumstances, but his wife yelled at him. "You're just a useless loser!" she shouted as she stomped her feet on the ground.

"You should listen to me before jumping into conclusions, Chloe," Ryan said as his eyebrows pressed together into a frown. His chest began to ache—the Lung cancer.

"A real man doesn't give excuses, Ryan. You're just a loser who pretends to love me but just wants to make me suffer," she pointed at him with anger in her eyes.

"My new dresses, bags, and shoes—how are you going to buy them now?" she asked as she paced around.

"We should be worried about the rent and bills now, instead of that," Ryan rolled his eyes as he walked towards his room, but Chloe quickly blocked his path.

"I don't care how you're going to do it; I need money this month. I need to purchase things for myself," Chloe yelled as she slammed her hands on the wall.

"Chloe, I love you very much and will try my best to make you happy, but now I needed this money—," Ryan was interrupted as soon as he began.

"Get lost! You're just bent on disgracing me in front of my friends. You can't hold down a job, and now you're just running away. Pathetic!" she spat, the anger in her voice morphing into bitter disdain.

Ryan, with shoulders slumped and head bowed, sighed and walked towards the exit. He couldn't stay here and listen to a nagging woman.

"You should also try to find a job too; maybe that will also teach you money is not made easily," Ryan said as he passed the mess of snack papers again, making shuffling sounds.

"What a man! You probably take joy in seeing a beautiful woman like me suffer! Oh poor me I was so blinded that I married you." Chloe kept talking to piss Ryan off even as he walked out on her.

"Be a man! Don't try to walk out on this, face it jerk!" She said as she threw the popcorn at him causing a few of them to get stuck in his hair and clothes.

But as he reached for the doorknob, his wife's words took a darker turn. "You should just die outside, Ryan. Don't bother coming back. You're a burden and a good for nothing."

Ryan paused as he turned back, staring at her with an expressionless gaze. "Yes, Ryan, just die," she smirked."

Ryan felt hurt by her words but he just slammed the door behind him. "She is right in a way, I was going to die if I don't make up the money." He whispered to himself as he stepped on the porch of his house.

He could still hear her cursing at him from within as he walked down the few steps. He wiped his hair causing some popcorn that were stuck there to fall off.

"I really need to do something, " he said as he put his hands into his pockets and walked down the road as he thought about what the doctor had told him earlier.

Raindrops suddenly landed on his face, and as he glanced upward, the downpour intensified. Moving through the rain, he heard a distressed female voice above the rhythmic patter of raindrops.

"Help! Please!" Ryan heard someone call out to him and turning towards the sound, he saw a beautiful girl caught in the downpour with desperation etched across her face.

Her clothes clung to her shivering form, and her eyes reflected a mixture of fear and desperation. Her voice cut through the sound of raindrops as her eyes seemed to plead for help. Her scent was like wild blooming roses on a spring morning. Ryan sucked in a whiff of a scent in the rain as he wondered what she was running from.

"Please help me," she said, trying to catch her breath. Her steps were wobbly and she couldn't run anymore. "They're after me – dangerous people. I don't know what to do."